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Eerie pictures show the M5 almost completely deserted on this afternoon (Sunday, March 29) as thousands of would-be drivers obey the government's orders to stay at home amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Footage taken from Highways England's live feed shows the carriageways between junctions 24 and 20 at Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea and Clevedon virtually empty on the first weekend since the strict measures were implemented.

The county's motorways would normally be bustling on a Sunday as thousands of people make their way home after a weekend away or embark on day trips across Somerset.

But with life as we knew it having careered to a halt since the COVID-19 outbreak took hold in the UK, the M5 is a picture of relative silence.

The M5 is a picture of calm at Burnham-on-Sea (Image: Highways England)

Roadblocks have been set up by police across the South West throughout the week in order to enforce social isolation and ensure that journeys are only being made with good reason.

The carriageway is also deserted in Clevedon (Image: Highways England)

It is not only Somerset's roads that have fallen eerily silent this week.

On the morning after the country was put into lockdown, pictures showed Yeovil town centre resembling something akin to a ghost town as all but essential shops were forced to close and only a handful of people were seen on the streets, compared with the hundreds you would usually expect on a Tuesday afternoon.

A look up towards an almost deserted Middle Street in Yeovil

It was a similar picture in Bath as the city was almost entirely bereft of visitors with the vast majority of shops and all of its main tourist attractions being closed to the public.

One shopper described the scene in the city as "frightfully quiet" while remarking that he was waiting for the tumbleweed to blow in.

Bath has been described as 'frightfully quiet' since lockdown began (Image: Paul Gillis)

The pictures paint a stark picture of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on key parts of Somerset as what seemed unthinkable just a few weeks ago has become very much a reality.